Bloom baby boom

By Tim Elliott

22 July 2006 — 10:00am

Family homes on big blocks for less than $1 million on the upper North Shore? Believe it.

If you've taken up Peter Costello's challenge to go forth and procreate, chances are you're now thinking of one thing: space and how to get more of it. You're not alone. With last year's birth rate registering its biggest jump since 1961, plenty of young families are busting out of their apartments, terraces and inner-city semis in search of room to roam, with many looking to Sydney's North Shore for answers.

"We're starting to see a trend now with young families moving to the North Shore looking for larger land size," says Louis Christopher, general manager of Australian Property Monitors. "In the 1990s the North Shore suffered from empty-nester syndrome. When their kids moved out many baby boomers were left in these huge houses and many of them have since divorced and are selling up."

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Filling the breach are Gen-Xers with kids, "many from the inner west", according to Christopher, who are drawn to the North Shore for the same reasons that have long made it among the most sought-after areas in Sydney: good schools (with 11 private schools within easy reach), established homes, good transport and of course, space. The property downturn has opened up the North Shore, long regarded as prohibitively expensive; buyers now can get a family home for less than $1 million.

CHATSWOOD/ROSEVILLE

"'East side walk rail' - meaning eastern side of the railway line within walking distance of the station - has traditionally been the holy grail for buyers on the North Shore," says Christina Doutty, director of RE/MAX Advantage Lindfield. This is because the east side of the ridge that runs up the North Shore got underground sewerage before the west; the east side is also cooler in summer, as it cops more of the north-easterly breeze.

Because of its proximity to the city and amenities (Willoughby Council plans a $140 million upgrade to Chatswood's Civic Centre next year), Chatswood is tough for bargain hunters: APM figures show that the median price there actually rose by 9.7 per cent since 2003. "You're also up against the Macquarie Bank special," says Trevor Morgan, of Ray White Chatswood. "Young bankers with families and plenty of money." Still, Morgan has an unrenovated three-bedroom home on 630 sq m at 21 Valery Avenue, with great views over Lane Cove National Park, for sale at $795,000 (phone 0425 340 257). "Mid-$800,000s will get an unrenovated three-bedder in High Street [on the east side], but it might be a bit knocked around." Looking west, there's a three-bedroom full-brick home with backyard at 7 Davies Street for sale at $825,000 (phone Duncan Lorimer at Shead First National on 0400 844 412).

LINDFIELD/KILLARA

Moving north, tree-filled Lindfield has defied the downturn, posting a 19 per cent jump in median house price since May 2003 ($962,000 to $1,145,000) and a hefty 26 per cent in East Lindfield ($956,000 to $1.2 million). "People love it here because it's handy," Doutty says. "The 205 and 208 buses into the city start from Lindfield and you've got Lindfield Oval and Soldiers Memorial Park, with walkways that go all the way up to St Ives and down to Echo Point in Middle Harbour."

There are still some bargains. Doutty has a three-bedroom brick home with a level garden on 803 sq m at 99 Eton Road (west Lindfield) for between $850,000 and $900,000 (phone 9416 1235).

There's also a four-bedroom, two-bathroom "grand home" on 1194 sq m at 77 Tryon Road (east Lindfield) for "around $950,000". And Paula Hellstern says there are family homes to be had for less than $1 million in Winchester Avenue and Grosvenor Road, both in west Lindfield.

"Killara is traditionally very tightly held," says Sheila Ashman, from Killara First National. "People come for the leafy streets, the train and the schools [among them] Beaumont Road Public, Killara Primary and Ravenswood, at Gordon." But with a bit of patience (and $800,000 to $850,000), Ashman says, it's possible to find unrenovated three-bed family homes on 1000 sq m blocks in Manning Road, Eustace Parade, Quebec Avenue and Frederick Street, all in west Killara.

GORDON/WEST PYMBLE/ST IVES

The rule of thumb on the North Shore is that each suburb further north adds another 10 minutes travelling time into the city. "Accordingly, buyers expect their money to go further, too," Doutty says. Gordon is not overflowing with listings, but, as ever, look to the west for better deals: St Johns, Bushland and Craiglands avenues and Kiparra and Ridge streets.

Doutty also recommends West Pymble (Grayling and Yarrara roads and Minnamurra Avenue), where the median house price is $740,000, and Warrimoo Avenue in St Ives Chase, where the median house price is $837,500. "Land sizes in Pymble range from 1000 sq m to 3000 sq m," says Carole McCrea of McGrath Estate Agents at Pymble, "but if you're willing to go for something around 750 sq m to 850 sq m, you can pick up three-bedroom character homes for mid-to-high $900,000s." Look around Ashmore Avenue, Arilla Road and Kimbarra Street, all a walk from Pymble Ladies College.

"If you want a place for under a million in St Ives, it's more possible now than for the past three years," says James Levy, manager of Century 21 Cordeau Marshall St Ives. Levy has listed a three-bedroom, renovated 1950s home on 803 sq m with a north-facing backyard at 2A Putarri Avenue in the high-$800,000s to low-$900,000s. Cheaper still is 163 Killeaton Street, a three-bedroom 1960s home with a pool on 935 sq m for $790,000 (phone 9488 8588)

TURRAMURRA/WARRAWEE/WAHROONGA

Some corners of the Upper North Shore took a pounding in the downturn, with the median house price in Warrawee (between Turramurra and Wahroonga) falling 28 per cent and nearby Waitara losing 6 per cent. Wahroonga has gone up slightly (8.5 per cent) - from $735,000 to $797,500; while Turramurra has gone from $775,000 to $795,000 (up 2.6 per cent).

"Sales haven't been rip-roaring," says Maryanne Vorlicek, from Ian Chadwick First National Turramurra, which has family homes for less than $1 million in Jersey, Rothwell, Montieth and Cornwall streets Lamond Drive, Kissing Point Road and Solander Close (phone 9449 4444).

"Even in Wahroonga, some places that were $1.1 million are now $980,000," says Keith Soames of Keith Soames Real Estate Wahroonga. "Psychologically, that makes big difference."

Soames is selling a two-storey, four-bedroom home on 931 sq m at 147 Coonanbarra Avenue for $879,000 (phone 9487 1500).

Other good-value streets include The Broadway, in Fox Valley (south Wahroonga), Curtin and Fisher avenues, where you'll get four-bedroom, 25- to 50-year-old family homes on blocks between 750 sq m to 1000 sq m-plus, all for less than $1 million.

"Wahroonga is a huge suburb," says Craig Marshall of Century 21 Cordeau Marshall. "There's always a wide range of stock and plenty of listings, which is good for buyers. It's also got Knox Grammar, Abbotsleigh and Wahroonga Public School [aka The Bush School], all nearby."

Marshall is selling a three-bedroom, full-brick home at 4 Zelda Avenue on a 928 sq m block for $850,000 (phone 9498 2388).

"Buyers are certainly choosey at the moment," says Peter Knox of Knox Family Real Estate, who's selling a four-bed Cape Cod family home on 915 sq m in east Wahroonga for $970,750 (phone 9416 7777). "And good luck to them. In this type of market it's only natural to be choosey."

THE QUIET LIFE

When Christopher Wong bought his house in Pymble a month ago, he started talking like a hippie.

"It's great," says the 38-year-old doctor, "it's so quiet, you're in the midst of nature and there are trees everywhere. In the morning you can see the eucalyptus vapour in the air."

He came from Singapore last year with his wife, Munching, and their two girls, aged six and eight. They lived for a time in St Ives before buying their modern three-bedder at Ashmore Avenue for $945,000.

"For me education is very important," says Wong, who works in the emergency department at Nepean Hospital.

"The house is only 1.5km from PLC [Pymble Ladies College], where both our girls go to school. When they get older they'll be able to walk there."

It's also a handy drive for 36-year-old Munching, who works as a drug researcher at North Ryde. "Plus, it's on an 850 square metre block, so we can extend out the back," Wong says.

"Like all good migrants I've brought my parents out with me and they'll be moving in. Basically, it's the perfect family home. Nice and quiet and very pretty when the sun shines on it."